Freud took a long time to accept the truth after Angor explained that he only spent two months learning Dream Walk while also minding other matters.
As a talented Dream Manipulator, Freud took half a year at it. And as far as Freud knew, Angor was an Illusionist, not a Dream Manipulator.
“Are you sure you’re an Illusionist, Mister Padt? Maybe you have a secondary talent we don’t know yet?”
“I’m not talented in Dream Manipulation, that I can assure you.”
Angor knew his rapid learning was made possible by a lot of factors, but not his talent. Although he didn’t want to explain any of them.
“I’m not even sure whether it’s a blessing or not to live in the same era as you. Oh wait, I’m already dead. Ahem. So um, which type of Dream Reading do you want to learn?”
Angor tilted his head.
“Dream Reading is not a single cantrip. It comes in different levels. If you become so good at it, then it can be considered as a spell. Taking your alchemy cantrip ‘Thaw’ as an example. Throughout your studies, it will turn into advanced tricks such as Smelt and Disintegrate. With the same effect but different in potency. Dream Reading is the same. To further divide its effectiveness, it has a total of four levels, ‘Hearken’, ‘Conduct’, ‘Command’, and ‘Interfere’.
“The most basic one, ‘Hearken’, is a level-2 cantrip that allows you to communicate with the dreamer, or even chat normally, if it was a lucid dream you’re in. ‘Conduct’ is level-3, which you use to force the dreamer to answer your specific questions. I was at this level when I was alive, by the way.
“‘Command’ is also a level-3 cantrip. Instead of language, you force the dreamer to behave specifically.
“As for ‘Interfere’, it’s a genuine spell only available to wizards.”
Freud didn’t explain the exact effect of “Interfere”, but the name already suggested enough.
Angor would like to study Dream Reading just to speak to Jon. He didn’t need to force Jon to do anything.
“I need the basic one, Hearken.”
Freud considered and said, “Reading someone’s dream isn’t exactly safe because they’d be in control of the dream you’re in unless you know how to overpower them. By using Dream Reading, you’ll allow your target to notice your presence and act accordingly. For example, they can cut off your dream bridge and render you vulnerable in that dream. It’s not lethal if you met with dangers in someone’s dream, but it will still damage your spirit greatly.
“If you only achieve the level of ‘Hearken’, you won’t be able to defend yourself. Even your best friend may mistake you for an intruding monster and try to hurt you.”
“He’ll not. I’m planning to enter a lucid dream.”
Unlike common lucid dreamers who thought to achieve everything they couldn’t do in real life, Jon remained peaceful and reasonable in his dream. There was no sadness or grudge for laying in a sickbed for years on end. There was only a tiny bit of regret.
Angor was quite sure that Jon wouldn’t hurt him.
“One last question,” Freud asked. “Why do you need Dream Reading in the first place?”
In Freud’s view, studying this art meant Angor would like to gain something out of people’s dreams, such as secrets and knowledge. But as far as he saw until now, Angor was planning to read the harmless dream of a close friend. Why didn’t they simply talk to each other?
Angor didn’t answer this one.
Freud scratched his head. “Oh, you don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s not a big secret or something. This... friend, of mine, is in poor health. I’m still trying to find a way to cure him. Since I can’t talk to him when he’s in a coma, I have to rely on reading his dream.”
“But... people suffering from a coma won’t show you any dreams. At least not comprehensible ones.”
“I have a Dream Weaver ant.”
“That sounds doable.” Freud suddenly looked sad for some reason. “I once tried to get one as well but never succeeded. If your friend has a bodily illness, why don’t you consider getting him a body transplant?”
“I can’t. He’s a mortal.”
Seeing Freud curious again, Angor decided to explain something about Jon’s condition, just without mentioning anything about Jon’s origin.
Perhaps it was because he finally had someone to listen to his concerns without Eureka listening in, Angor told Freud a lot of information, including how he had been maintaining Jon’s vital balance.
As for the corruption brought by the world’s consciousness, he described it as an unknown curse that even wizards couldn’t deal with easily.
“Two years isn’t very long.” Angor sighed at the end of his story. “I still have no clue for his cure yet. What a failure I am.”
“Come on. If you’re a failure, I should never have shown my face in this world. Neya told me a lot about you, being famous and all around the Fey Continent. If nothing goes wrong, your face would be printed on the front cover of Grove of Time magazine when the next edition comes out. An apprentice alchemist who made a high-tier alchemy item. I can’t believe it!”
Angor heard about this particular magazine published by the City of Truth. It was usually regarded as a rather reliable reading material that only provided names and subjects worth discussing.
He wouldn’t be surprised if someone back at the Fey Continent was spreading his name again. But he was wondering how Freud heard about his Ocean Tuner out here. When crafting the item, he saw no onlookers around.
“I might have an idea to deal with your friend’s illness, if he’s willing to give up his mortal body,” Freud suddenly offered.
“Really?”
“It’s only a theory. As you said, even true wizards can’t help you, right? Don’t expect much.”
“Just tell me.”
“So, his body is failing rapidly beyond repair, and even if you manage to stop the curse, he as a mortal won’t have very long to live, am I right?”
It was true. Using the Inscription Card would somewhat revert Jon’s life expectancy, but it couldn’t prolong it. Whether Angor could find a cure or not, Jon was still restricted by his mortal physique.
“Giving up his body... Do you mean to keep his soul behind?” Angor shook his head. “I can’t. It’s too difficult to sustain mortal souls. Telling from his incomplete dream, I can tell his spirit level is below 3. If he dies, his consciousness will just shatter into particles.”
“That’s not it. Do you remember my research subject, Mister Padt? Dreams might be desolated and boring in the long run, but we can create dreams as good as reality if we can combine them with the Dream Whelk.”
Angor widened his eyes a bit. Freud’s words just reminded him of some of the fictions he read before, where people could throw away their lives to live inside virtual realities.
If they could use the Dream Whelk to pull different objects into a dream and let Jon live there...
Freud saw Angor getting interested and quickly added, “I once mentioned magical creatures native to the dream realm. Do you know that, by certain means, they can travel to reality as well?”